Danica's Revenge, page 6
I feel empty.
I spend Dante’s money frivolously, almost vindictively, as I buy things I don’t need, forcing the guards to carry my designer bags through the shops. I know it’s degrading for them, totally beneath them, but see if I care.
I’m not hungry but I know I should eat, I realize when I start to feel faint. I haven’t eaten anything since last night. I march the boys into a coffee shop, ordering them to a separate table so I can have some space.
I get a coffee and a croissant I can’t get down, warming my hands on the cup as I stare out over the small room without focusing on anything. My thoughts are a million miles away when Carlo puts a hand on my shoulder.
“What?!” I snap, throwing his hand off.
Carlo is holding his phone, a solemn look on his face. “There has been an incident at home, Miss Matthews…I’m sorry.”
“What kind of incident?” I ask, putting my coffee down slowly. “Is Dante okay?”
Carlo lowers his eyes. I know it must be serious. He doesn’t answer my question. “We have to go, Miss Matthews.”
Dante!
❖
Chapter thirteen
Double-Crossed
I know I’ve fucked up. I shouldn’t have spoken to Danica like that.
I sigh heavily, sitting down as I twist the rings on my fingers, lost in thought.
I can’t tell her what’s going on though, not yet. Not until it’s all resolved. She would just worry or worse—try to interfere.
Still, the guilt sits in my stomach like a brick. Danica didn’t deserve to be thrown out like that. I never want to hurt her.
There is a soft knock on the door. It’s Emilio. I can tell by the pattern of the raps on the wood
“Enter!”
“I brought you your coffee, capo.” He puts the fresh cup down on my desk.
“Taking on new tasks?” I try to smile but it feels forced.
“I didn’t make it, I’m just bringing it in.” The big man shrugs.
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“They’re too scared, boss.”
“And why is that?” I know the answer but I want him to tell me.
“Miss Matthews was quite upset earlier…” he carefully broaches the subject.
Emilio is more than just my guard. He is my confidant, my advisor. In the more than two decades we’ve worked together, Emilio has been the only dependable person in my life.
“Yes, I suppose so.” I pick up the warm cup of black liquid. It’s too hot but I take a sip anyway, enjoying the burn.
“I have a lot on my mind…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, capo,” Emilio says simply, formal as always.
“I should make it up to her though. Will you speak to Alicia please and arrange a special dinner for tonight? Just here at home. It’s not safe to go out.”
On top of being my PA, Alicia also makes sure everything runs smoothly at home. The domestic staff all report to her. She’s only been with the family for three years now, but she proved a quick learner.
“Yes, capo,” Emilio says.
“And ask her to get some of Danica’s favorite flowers too, those dark red tulips. Make it special, you know?” I am trying, but romantic isn’t really my style. Not since my wife died…More than six years ago now. I flinch at the mere thought of those days.
Emilio nods. “Anything else, boss?”
“No. Just keep that door closed at all times.”
“Of course.” He makes his exit quietly, shuffling into his usual position outside my door.
Maybe if Emilio had been at home that day, rather than with me, she would still be alive.
I can’t stop the thoughts that drift to the painful past, poking a raw wound that never seems to close. Poking it just to make sure it still hurts. It does. A lot.
Elena.
I can still hear her laugh echoing through the rooms. She made it all feel so different, the whole house, my life. Things had been dark until she'd come along with those long legs and innocent smile, dark curls cascading down her back. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. A true Italian too, my dad would have been proud. No, my dad was never proud. But he could have been. Elena was made of pure sunshine. Everything about her had felt light.
I had just turned 32 when we met. She was 26. From the moment I'd first laid eyes on her at some social gathering I didn’t care for, I hadn’t been able to tear myself away from her. She was a distant relation of Don Greco, a cousin on his wife’s side.
Our attraction had been instant. She'd wanted me as much as I'd wanted her. Elena had been used to the crime life; I didn’t have to hide anything from her. She'd loved me as I was. For the first time since I'd taken over the family business 13 years prior, I had found something that was purely mine.
Elena had been the most beautifully obedient sub any man could wish for. The way she'd kneeled for me, waiting by the door every day, naked except for her collar. The things she'd let me do to her body, the things she'd wanted me to do…Her devotion had known no bounds. And neither had my desire for her. I'd wanted her all the time, wanted to make her face contort in pleasure as she screamed my name loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.
I had never been a pleasure Dom until I met Elena. But her satisfaction became the only thing that mattered to me. Burying my face in her cunt, her long legs wrapped behind my back, that’d been the only time the chaos in my mind had calmed down.
We married within two years in an extravagant affair attended by both families en masse. I will never forget the sight of her walking up in that pure white dress, the smile she wore just for me. We were so happy. So naive too, in hindsight.
I was going to give it all up for her. I was going to get out. Maybe move back to Italy, start a family of our own. Luca had still been young, 27—but eight years older than I was when I took over the business. He was keen for the power but not so keen to learn. But I'd been ready to hand it all over to him, even if he burned it all to the ground. Anything to take my princess away to another castle, to keep her safe.
I'd wanted nothing more than to live by the sea in a modest house, just us, maybe a few kids running around. For a moment, I'd thought I could have it all. I could be just Dante, not Don Fera. Oh god, how beautiful she had looked between my legs, hungrily devouring my cock as small murmurs escaped her mouth.
But nobody gets out alive.
Emilio had been with me the day it happened. We'd gone to bail out Luca again after some or other dumb shit he'd gotten himself into. I don’t know if I've ever stopped resenting him, or myself, for not having been there when they took her.
Elena had gone to the doctor. A guard had gone with her, someone always had. Only much later did I find out she was pregnant. We were meant to have a little boy.
The guard hadn't been able to defend Elena by himself, outnumbered. They'd taken her. I still don't know who did it or why. Nobody has ever owned up to the act. I suspect it was the Riccis, but I can’t prove it.
It had taken too long to find her. By the time I did, I could no longer save her. They'd left her butchered on the cold floor, naked, bleeding out over the concrete in some abandoned building, her beautiful face desecrated by ugly cuts and bruises. That had been the first time I'd cried since my mother died. Elena’s body was cold, lifeless as I picked her up, blood smeared across my shirt, my hands. I'd cried into her messy hair. Cried for the life we could’ve had, the life that was lost. Only Emilio had seen me fall apart. But we'd never spoken about it again.
I kiss the ruby on the ring adorning my right hand. Sweet dear Elena. She was just 31 when they took her from me.
I finish my coffee and check my phone again. Still nothing. I try to call him again but it just rings. My text remains unread as well. You fucker. What have you gotten yourself mixed up in now?
I’m still contemplating my next move when I hear a gunshot outside. It’s muffled but unmistakable.
What the fuck?
I open the desk drawer and fish out my gun. I try to check that it’s loaded but I’m struggling to focus. My head feels fuzzy, dazed. Get it together, Dante!
Outside, there is a huge commotion. I hear Emilio shouting something in Italian but I don’t catch any of it. More gunshots.
I don’t know what’s going on.
Moments later my door bursts open, an army of masked gunmen filling up my office.
I lift my gun but I’m too slow. I fire a shot but not before they do. It hits me in my shoulder, I think. I drop the gun.
I try to count them but my mind can’t count today. Maybe eight of them, maybe more. The shouting is unmistakably Italian but I don’t recognize any of the voices.
They grab me from behind the desk. I try to struggle but it’s no use, my limbs feel heavy. I can't stop the blow that lands on my jaw, delivered by the back of a pistol. I can’t stop the kicking.
It all feels hazy, like a bad dream. Even the pain from the shot in my arm is just a dull ache.
Where is Emilio? My last thought before it all goes dark.
❖
Chapter fourteen
Liars
It’s been two nights since they took Dante.
Two tormented sleepless nights without my tesoro, my treasure.
I hold my coffee with both hands but can’t bring myself to drink it. I’m in the library downstairs, staring out over the lawns. I feel desperate, lost, exhausted, and a million other feelings I don’t have the name or energy for. Above all, I am sick with worry.
This is the longest Dante and I have ever been apart since we met. I don’t know what to do with myself, I feel so useless. Emilio and Luca have been out all day, speaking to some of the family’s informants, hoping to find something, anything, about who took Dante or why. They didn’t want me to come with though—You’ll just be in the way, Danica. As always.
I try to keep my mind from the worst-case scenario but it’s difficult. Dante has a lot of enemies, enemies capable of things I cannot even fathom. He has shielded me from the horrors of the business as much as he could, but who was there to protect him?
I can’t stay in our room. It feels so empty. What if he never comes back? I wish I could stop asking myself that.
Another thing taken from me. You can’t have nice things, Danica, why even bother? My inner voice has never been kind. As ugly inside as I am out—or at least that’s how I used to see myself. That’s what everyone made me believe. My father, my brothers, that fuck-head ex who I gave up my studies for—my life for —only to be kicked to the curb when he found someone he deemed “better.”
But not Dante. In his eyes, I am always beautiful. He believes it so much that I almost started believing it too. I want to be who he sees me as, always. I am better with him…no, for him. A god like Dante Fera deserves a Queen worthy of worship.
But I am a useless Queen. I can’t do anything to bring my Knight back. I want to cry but I have no more tears left. I’m all cried out. I came to hide out in the library, hoping to find some escape, some peace but all I find is a Dante-sized hole.
“You ever going to drink that coffee?”
A familiar voice pulls me back to the high-ceilinged room stacked top-to-bottom with beautiful books, Beauty and the Beast style.
“Any news?” I ask hopefully, turning to Luca.
“Nothing. We’ve spoken to all the families but nobody knows anything.” He puts a hand on my shoulder but I feel no comfort.
I imagine I must look like a complete mess, I feel like one. I haven’t showered since Dante left, my hair is tied up in a messy ponytail, thick glasses are pushed over my face. Why bother with the contact lenses now? Why bother with anything?
Luca puts an arm around me and pulls me out of the chair. He presses me against his body. I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
“It will be okay—” he starts, resting his hand on my ass.
I instantly recoil from him.
“Jesus, Luca!” I exclaim, pushing him back.
I don’t want to be near anyone and definitely not someone slimy like him. All I want is Dante. I just want Dante to hold me tight again and then everything will be okay.
Luca grabs my wrist. I glare daggers into his eyes, trying to shake loose. “Let go,” I hiss. His eyes are shifty, blood red.
Luca laughs loudly, inappropriately. “You’re so cute when you’re angry.” He doesn’t let go. I’m getting very uncomfortable now.
“Are you drunk?”
“The alcohol was just the starter,” he smiles. He’s clearly high on something,
and not the mild recreational stuff—or, if it is, he has clearly consumed more than recreational quantities.
“It hardly seems like the time, Luca,” I say sternly.
“Now is the perfect time. When the cat’s away, the mice can play.” He pulls me toward him again, reaching over to try and kiss me. I shove my hand up into his face, hitting his jaw firmly.
“Go to hell, Luca!” I shout, but I still can’t shake him loose.
“You’re being a real bitch, Danica. I thought you wanted this too?” He is annoyed, touching his fingers to his bruised cheek.
“You’ve lost your mind. All I want is your brother.”
“Well, he’s not here right now to protect you, is he? I finally get to have you all to myself.” He grabs both my wrists to hold me down.
I scream as loudly as I can muster. The library is tucked away deep within the house, but one of the guards should be around. Should be.
But it’s not the guards who hear me, it’s Alicia. She appears suddenly in the doorway, staring at us confused, frozen. Luca has me by the wrists, pinned against the wall with his muscular frame pressed against me.
Her expression is not what I expect. She looks angry for some reason rather than alarmed.
“What are you doing, Luca?” she asks calmly, too calmly, walking toward us. Luca finally lets up and I shake myself loose.
“Ali…” Luca’s face changes, the fury drains instantly from his eyes. “I was just—”
Alicia doesn’t let him finish. She grabs him by the collar, bringing his face inches from hers. “You’re fucking this up, Luca. Do you understand that?”
I might as well not be in the room. I’m beyond confused.
“I—” he tries to protest, but for the second time today, he gets a fist to the face.
“Ali, please. It’s not what it looks like.”
“Really? Because what it looks like is you chasing after what isn’t yours. Again. Can you just stop making everything worse already?” She is clearly on edge. I am still in the dark as to why, but I’m starting to suspect everything isn’t as it appears. Alicia looks like she hasn’t slept in days.
“I’m not making it worse. I’m fixing it, remember?”
“Does it look fixed to you? When are they going to call? You said it would only be one day. That it’s just to get the money and then we’re good. It’s not one day anymore, Luca.”
“Not in front of her. Shut up, Ali. You’re going to get us in trouble,” Luca looks panicked.
“What’s going on?” I demand but neither of them look at me.
“Nothing. She’s just jealous,” Luca covers quickly, nervously. He looks fidgety, guilty.
“Yes, yes I am. Because my asshole druggy boyfriend can’t keep his addictions at bay long enough to follow a simple plan,” she hisses through her teeth.
“Your boyfriend—as in him?” I ask, looking at Luca, not all that interested in this part of the story. But they clearly know something about Dante’s kidnapping.
“I’m not a druggy,” Luca says quietly, shoulders drooping. “Please stop.”
But his “Ali” has no intention of stopping. She is furious. And fed up.
“No, Luca. This has gone too far. You said Dante wouldn’t get hurt. They would just rough him up. I’m starting to realize nothing that comes out of your mouth is ever the truth.”
“Where’s Dante?” I beg.
“Tell her, Luca. Tell her what you did. You want to be the bad boy. So own up to your shit. Tell Danica how you sold out your own brother to pay off your fucking gambling debts. Tell her about all the cocaine. About how you promised to help them get into Dante’s study so they could blackmail the family for more money and you could pay off your debts. How you got me to help you drug Dante’s coffee so he’d be defenseless, how I spiked the two guards’ food and gave them all food poisoning. Tell her how you promised this would be the last time, this would solve all our problems and we’d finally be free, done with it all. How you were ready to make an honest woman out of me. Tell her the truth for once, Luca.” Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
“You didn’t? Luca? Tell me she’s making this up,” I look at him in desperation, not willing to accept the words.
“No one was supposed to get hurt…” Luca lowers his eyes shamefully.
“Where is he?” I ask for the umpteenth time.
“I don’t know. They were supposed just to take him and then demand money. I was going to transfer it to them as blackmail money to pay off my debts and they were going to let him go. Easy peasy. But they haven’t even called yet…”
“You’re an idiot, Luca. They fucking double-crossed you. The same way you double-crossed your own brother. How could you?” I clench my fists, listening to my knuckles crack.
“I had no choice. I asked him for help. He didn’t help me. He never fucking helps. It is always just about the business. Or you,” he glares at me in accusation.
“You gave your brother to the literal fucking enemy, Luca. He doesn’t deserve this.”
My desperation is quickly turning to anger.
“I called him, you know. He didn’t even bother to answer. Last week. Where was he then? When they were beating the shit out of me? They cut off my fucking little toe, Danica! Did Dante even bother to answer his phone? No!” He is pacing around the room. Alicia stands to the side, leaning against the bookcase, arms crossed over her chest. The look of a woman who is done with this shit.
